Six clicks: Business models disrupted by the iPhone 6, the Apple Watch, and Apple Pay

Introduction

Yesterday saw Apple unveil the next generation iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets, along with the long-awaited and much-rumored Apple Watch. And over the course of the two-hour unveiling, the Cupertino giant disrupted a whole raft of business models with its new products and services.

Large-display smartphones

The iPhone, with it's 4-inch display, was at the small end of the screen-size spectrum, but now that Apple has bumped the displays up to 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch, it is now playing in an entirely new market, one that previously belonged to Android (and, to a lesser extend, Windows Phone) players such as Samsung and LG.

The iPhone 6 is kitted out with a 4.7-inch 1334-by-750-pixel resolution display with a pixel density of 326 ppi, while the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution display with a pixel density of 401 ppi. Both handsets feature dual-domain pixels for wider viewing angles.

Now Apple has removed that advantage, I can see there being defectors moving to iOS from the Android camp.

Payments

While on the surface Apple Pay looks and feels like NFC with an Apple logo plastered on it, it's clear that Apple is making a play for a piece of a very large pie.

And Apple isn't just interested in offering another way for people to pay for things, it wants to do away with decades of legacy related to plastic cards, security codes, and magnetic strips and bring paying for things into the 21st century.

Apple wants to replace the tedious process of form-filling and remembering credit card numbers with a one-click process, and while this will be welcomed by customers and merchants, it is undoubtedly going to create waves in an industry with some well-established players.

And this is just the beginning. Think where Apple will take this as it gets more and more clout.

Fitness wearables

Both the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch place a huge emphasis on fitness, counting your steps and how many flights of stairs you've done, and encouraging you to move like a friendly drill instructor.

Apple's products now feature a raft of sensors – from accelerometers to barometers to heart rate monitors – to monitor your movements and cajole you into shifting your carcass more.

While this is great for people's health, it's not so good for the existing players in the market. Companies such as Jawbone and FitBit are going to have to gaze deep into the ideas well and start innovating, and fast, perhaps moving to paid-for apps that leverage the sensors in the iPhone to compliment a physical wearable.

Smartwatches

Without even once uttering the word 'smartwatch,' Apple has dropped an atomic bomb into the existing smartwatch market.

Rather than focus on making a small, awkward, hard to use companion device for a smartphone, Apple has not only designed an accessory that brings a raft of new features to the table, but come up with innovative solutions to some fundamental problems facing that have plagued smartwatches.

The entire wristwatch business

Think it's just the smartwatch market that Apple has disrupted? Think again.

The Apple Watch will be offered in three lines, and at the top-end will be the Edition line, which will be crafted from 18-karat gold and feature a polished sapphire crystal lens. Throw in the different finishes and straps and these are features that you find on high-end timepieces.

For the first time, Apple is making a clear play for the fashion market, and this could lead to the company doing a lot more interesting things. After all, if there's one market with a bigger markup than Apple currently enjoys, it's the luxury goods market.

Messaging

While the likes of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger might be enjoying more column inches than iMessage these days, the Apple Watch could change that.

While traditional messaging tools allow people to communicate using words and emojis, the Apple Watch will take this several steps on, allowing people to communicate in new and more intimate ways, with sketches, taps, sound bites, and even heartbeats.

These are methods are personal. Specific. Intimate.

Think these are gimmicks? People though the same about emojis, and look how popular they are now.

Over the course of the two-hour unveiling, the Cupertino giant disrupted a whole raft of business models with its new products and services.

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The entire wristwatch business

Think it's just the smartwatch market that Apple has disrupted? Think again.

The Apple Watch will be offered in three lines, and at the top-end will be the Edition line, which will be crafted from 18-karat gold and feature a polished sapphire crystal lens. Throw in the different finishes and straps and these are features that you find on high-end timepieces.

For the first time, Apple is making a clear play for the fashion market, and this could lead to the company doing a lot more interesting things. After all, if there's one market with a bigger markup than Apple currently enjoys, it's the luxury goods market.